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to Pet. for Cert. 179a, 216a. The beds at Grants Pass’s charity-run
shelter did not qualify as “available” in part because that shelter has
rules requiring residents to abstain from smoking and to attend reli-
gious services. App. to Pet. for Cert. 179a–180a. A divided panel of
the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s Martin injunction in rel-
evant part. 72 F. 4th 868, 874–896. Grants Pass filed a petition for
certiorari. Many States, cities, and counties from across the Ninth Cir-
cuit urged the Court to grant review to assess Martin.
Held: The enforcement of generally applicable laws regulating camping
on public property does not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment”
prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. Pp. 15–35.
(a) The Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishments
Clause “has always been considered, and properly so, to be directed at
the method or kind of punishment” a government may “impos[e] for
the violation of criminal statutes.” Powell v. Texas, 392 U. S. 514, 531–
532 (plurality opinion). It was adopted to ensure that the new Nation
would never resort to certain “formerly tolerated” punishments consid-
ered “cruel” because they were calculated to “ ‘superad[d]’ ” “ ‘terror,
pain, or disgrace,’ ” and considered “unusual” because, by the time of
the Amendment’s adoption, they had “long fallen out of use.” Bucklew
v. Precythe, 587 U. S 119, 130. All that would seem to make the Eighth
Amendment a poor foundation on which to rest the kind of decree the
plaintiffs seek in this case and the Ninth Circuit has endorsed since
Martin. The Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause focuses on the
question what “method or kind of punishment” a government may im-
pose after a criminal conviction, not on the question whether a govern-
ment may criminalize particular behavior in the first place. Powell,
392 U. S., at 531–532.
The Court cannot say that the punishments Grants Pass imposes
here qualify as cruel and unusual. The city imposes only limited fines
for first-time offenders, an order temporarily barring an individual
from camping in a public park for repeat offenders, and a maximum
sentence of 30 days in jail for those who later violate an order. See
Ore. Rev. Stat. §§164.245, 161.615(3). Such punishments do not qual-
ify as cruel because they are not designed to “superad[d]” “terror, pain,
or disgrace.” Bucklew, 587 U. S., at 130 (internal quotation marks
omitted). Nor are they unusual, because similarly limited fines and
jail terms have been and remain among “the usual mode[s]” for pun-
ishing criminal offenses throughout the country. Pervear v. Common-
wealth, 5 Wall. 475, 480. Indeed, cities and States across the country
have long employed similar punishments for similar offenses. Pp. 15–
17.
(b) Plaintiffs do not meaningfully dispute that, on its face, the Cruel
and Unusual Punishments Clause does not speak to questions like
Cite as: 603 U. S. ____ (2024) 3
Syllabus
Syllabus
Syllabus
No. 23–175
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I
A
Some suggest that homelessness may be the “defining
public health and safety crisis in the western United
States” today. 72 F. 4th 868, 934 (CA9 2023) (Smith, J.,
dissenting from denial of rehearing en banc). According to
the federal government, homelessness in this country has
reached its highest levels since the government began re-
porting data on the subject in 2007. Dept. of Housing and
Urban Development, Office of Community Planning & De-
velopment, T. de Sousa et al., The 2023 Annual Homeless
Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress 2–3 (2023). Cali-
fornia alone is home to around half of those in this Nation
living without shelter on a given night. Id., at 30. And each
of the five States with the highest rates of unsheltered
homelessness in the country—California, Oregon, Hawaii,
Arizona, and Nevada—lies in the American West. Id., at
17.
Those experiencing homelessness may be as diverse as
the Nation itself—they are young and old and belong to all
races and creeds. People become homeless for a variety of
reasons, too, many beyond their control. Some have been
affected by economic conditions, rising housing costs, or
natural disasters. Id., at 37; see Brief for United States as
Amicus Curiae 2–3. Some have been forced from their
homes to escape domestic violence and other forms of ex-
ploitation. Ibid. And still others struggle with drug addic-
tion and mental illness. By one estimate, perhaps 78 per-
cent of the unsheltered suffer from mental-health issues,
while 75 percent struggle with substance abuse. See J.
Rountree, N. Hess, & A. Lyke, Health Conditions Among
Unsheltered Adults in the U. S., Calif. Policy Lab, Policy
Brief 5 (2019).
Those living without shelter often live together. L.
Dunton et al., Dept. of Housing and Urban Development,
Cite as: 603 U. S. ____ (2024) 3
was pending in the Ninth Circuit, and her claims are not before us. 72
F. 4th 868, 880, n. 12 (2023). Before us, the city does not dispute that
the remaining named plaintiffs face a credible threat of sanctions under
its ordinances.
Cite as: 603 U. S. ____ (2024) 13
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3 Supporters of Grants Pass’s petition for certiorari included: The cities
II
A
The Constitution and its Amendments impose a number
of limits on what governments in this country may declare
to be criminal behavior and how they may go about enforc-
ing their criminal laws. Familiarly, the First Amendment
prohibits governments from using their criminal laws to
abridge the rights to speak, worship, assemble, petition,
and exercise the freedom of the press. The Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prevents govern-
ments from adopting laws that invidiously discriminate be-
tween persons. The Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and
Fourteenth Amendments ensure that officials may not dis-
place certain rules associated with criminal liability that
are “so old and venerable,” “ ‘so rooted in the traditions and
conscience of our people[,] as to be ranked as fundamental.’ ”
Kahler v. Kansas, 589 U. S. 271, 279 (2020) (quoting Leland
v. Oregon, 343 U. S. 790, 798 (1952)). The Fifth and Sixth
Amendments require prosecutors and courts to observe var-
ious procedures before denying any person of his liberty,
promising for example that every person enjoys the right to
confront his accusers and have serious criminal charges re-
solved by a jury of his peers. One could go on.
But if many other constitutional provisions address what
a government may criminalize and how it may go about se-
curing a conviction, the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition
against “cruel and unusual punishments” focuses on what
happens next. That Clause “has always been considered,
and properly so, to be directed at the method or kind of pun-
ishment” a government may “impos[e] for the violation of
criminal statutes.” Powell v. Texas, 392 U. S. 514, 531–532
(1968) (plurality opinion).
We have previously discussed the Clause’s origins and
meaning. In the 18th century, English law still “formally
tolerated” certain barbaric punishments like “disembowel-
ing, quartering, public dissection, and burning alive,” even
16 CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON
park. Only those who later violate an order like that may
face a criminal punishment of up to 30 days in jail and a
larger fine. See Part I–C, supra. None of the city’s sanc-
tions qualifies as cruel because none is designed to “su-
perad[d]” “terror, pain, or disgrace.” Bucklew, 587 U. S., at
130 (internal quotation marks omitted). Nor are the city’s
sanctions unusual, because similar punishments have been
and remain among “the usual mode[s]” for punishing of-
fenses throughout the country. Pervear v. Commonwealth,
5 Wall. 475, 480 (1867); see 4 Blackstone 371–372; Timbs v.
Indiana, 586 U. S. 146, 165 (2019) (Thomas J., concurring
in judgment) (describing fines as “ ‘the drudge-horse of
criminal justice, probably the most common form of punish-
ment’ ” (some internal quotation marks omitted)). In fact,
large numbers of cities and States across the country have
long employed, and today employ, similar punishments for
similar offenses. See Part I–A, supra; Brief for Professor
John F. Stinneford as Amicus Curiae 7–13 (collecting his-
torical and contemporary examples). Notably, neither the
plaintiffs nor the dissent meaningfully contests any of this.
See Brief for Respondents 40.4
B
Instead, the plaintiffs and the dissent pursue an entirely
different theory. They do not question that, by its terms,
the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause speaks to the
question what punishments may follow a criminal convic-
tion, not to antecedent questions like what a State may
criminalize or how it may go about securing a conviction.
Yet, echoing the Ninth Circuit in Martin, they insist one
notable exception exists.
——————
4 This Court has never held that the Cruel and Unusual Punishments
That framing may have made some sense. Our due pro-
cess jurisprudence has long taken guidance from the “set-
tled usage[s] . . . in England and in this country.” Hurtado
v. California, 110 U. S. 516, 528 (1884); see also Kahler, 589
U. S., at 279. And, historically, crimes in England and this
country have usually required proof of some act (or actus
reus) undertaken with some measure of volition (mens rea).
At common law, “a complete crime” generally required
“both a will and an act.” 4 Blackstone 21. This view “took
deep and early root in American soil” where, to this day, a
crime ordinarily arises “only from concurrence of an evil-
meaning mind with an evil-doing hand.” Morissette v.
United States, 342 U. S. 246, 251–252 (1952). Measured
against these standards, California’s law was an anomaly,
as it required proof of neither of those things.
Mr. Robinson’s resort to the Eighth Amendment was
comparatively brief. He referenced it only in passing, and
only for the proposition that forcing a drug addict like him-
self to go “ ‘cold turkey’ ” in a jail cell after conviction en-
tailed such “intense mental and physical torment” that it
was akin to “the burning of witches at the stake.” Robinson
Brief 30. The State responded to that argument with barely
a paragraph of analysis, Brief for Appellee in Robinson v.
California, O. T. 1961, No. 61–554, pp. 22–23, and it re-
ceived virtually no attention at oral argument. By almost
every indication, then, Robinson was set to be a case about
the scope of the Due Process Clause, or perhaps an Eighth
Amendment case about whether forcing an addict to with-
draw from drugs after conviction qualified as cruel and un-
usual punishment.
Of course, the case turned out differently. Bypassing Mr.
Robinson’s primary Due Process Clause argument, the
Court charted its own course, reading the Cruel and Unu-
sual Punishments Clause to impose a limit not just on what
punishments may follow a criminal conviction but what a
20 CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON
Grants Pass’s apply only to the homeless. See post, at 13. That view
finds no support in the laws before us. Perhaps the dissent means to
suggest that some cities selectively “enforce” their public-camping laws
only against homeless persons. See post, at 17–19. But if that’s the dis-
sent’s theory, it is not one that arises under the Eighth Amendment’s
Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause. Instead, if anything, it may
implicate due process and our precedents regarding selective prosecu-
tion. See, e.g., United States v. Armstrong, 517 U. S. 456 (1996). No
claim like that is before us in this case.
22 CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON
——————
6 Justice White, who cast the fifth vote upholding the conviction, con-
curred in the result. Writing only for himself, Justice White expressed
some sympathy for Justice Fortas’s theory, but ultimately deemed that
“novel construction” of the Eighth Amendment “unnecessary to pursue”
because the defendant hadn’t proven that his alcoholism made him “un-
able to stay off the streets on the night in question.” 392 U. S., at 552,
n. 4, 553–554 (White, J., concurring in result). In Martin, the Ninth Cir-
cuit suggested Justice White’s solo concurrence somehow rendered the
Powell dissent controlling and the plurality a dissent. See Martin v.
Boise, 920 F. 3d 584, 616–617 (2019). Before us, neither the plaintiffs
nor the dissent defend that theory, and for good reason: In the years
since Powell, this Court has repeatedly relied on Justice Marshall’s opin-
ion, as we do today. See, e.g., Kahler v. Kansas, 589 U. S. 271, 280 (2020);
Clark v. Arizona, 548 U. S. 735, 768, n. 38 (2006); Jones v. United States,
463 U. S. 354, 365, n. 13 (1983).
24 CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON
what [we] wan[t]” in their briefs. Post, at 24. In fact, all the States,
cities, and counties listed above (n. 3, supra) asked us to review this case.
Among them all, the dissent purports to identify just two public officials
Cite as: 603 U. S. ____ (2024) 31
E
Rather than address what we have actually said, the dis-
sent accuses us of extending to local governments an “un-
fettered freedom to punish,” post, at 25, and stripping away
any protections “the Constitution” has against “criminaliz-
ing sleeping,” post, at 5. “Either stay awake,” the dissent
warns, “or be arrested.” Post, at 2. That is gravely mis-
taken. We hold nothing of the sort. As we have stressed,
cities and States are not bound to adopt public-camping
laws. They may also choose to narrow such laws (as Oregon
itself has recently). Beyond all that, many substantive le-
gal protections and provisions of the Constitution may have
important roles to play when States and cities seek to en-
force their laws against the homeless. See Parts II–A, II–
C, supra. The only question we face is whether one specific
provision of the Constitution—the Cruel and Unusual Pun-
ishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment—prohibits the
enforcement of public-camping laws.
Nor does the dissent meaningfully engage with the rea-
sons we have offered for our conclusion on that question. It
claims that we “gratuitously” treat Robinson “as an outlier.”
Post, at 12, and n. 2. But the dissent does not dispute that
——————
and two cities that, according to the dissent, support its view. Post, at
24–25. But even among that select group, the dissent overlooks the fact
that each expresses strong dissatisfaction with how Martin has been ap-
plied in practice. See San Francisco Brief 15, 26 (“[T]he Ninth Circuit
and its lower courts have repeatedly misapplied and overextended the
Eighth Amendment” and “hamstrung San Francisco’s balanced approach
to addressing the homelessness crisis”); Brief for City of Los Angeles as
Amicus Curiae 6 (“[T]he sweeping rationale in Martin . . . calls into ques-
tion whether cities can enforce public health and safety laws”); California
Governor Brief 3 (“In the wake of Martin, lower courts have blocked ef-
forts to clear encampments while micromanaging what qualifies as a
suitable offer of shelter”). And for all the reasons we have explored and
so many other cities have suggested, we see no principled basis under
the Eighth Amendment for federal judges to administer anything like
Martin.
32 CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON
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8 The dissent brushes aside these questions, declaring that “available
answers” exist in the decisions below. Post, at 22. But the dissent misses
the point. The problem, as Justice Marshall discussed, is not that it is
impossible for someone to dictate answers to these questions. The prob-
lem is that nothing in the Eighth Amendment gives federal judges the
authority or guidance they need to answer them in a principled way.
Take just two examples. First, the dissent says, a city seeking to ban
camping must provide “adequate” shelter for those with “no place to go.”
Post, at 21–22. But it never says what qualifies as “adequate” shelter.
Ibid. And, as we have seen, cities and courts across the Ninth Circuit
have struggled mightily with that question, all with nothing in the
Eighth Amendment to guide their work. Second, the dissent seems to
think that, if a city lacks enough “adequate” shelter, it must permit “ ‘bed-
ding’ ” in public spaces, but not campfires, tents, or “ ‘public urination or
defecation.’ ” Post, at 15, 21–22, 24. But where does that rule come from,
the federal register? See post, at 22. After Martin, again as we have
seen, many courts have taken a very different view. The dissent never
explains why it disagrees with those courts. Instead, it merely quotes
the district court’s opinion in this case that announced a rule it seems
the dissent happens to prefer. By elevating Martin over our own prece-
dents and the Constitution’s original public meaning, the dissent faces
difficult choices that cannot be swept under the rug—ones that it can
resolve not by anything found in the Eighth Amendment, only by fiat.
34 CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON
It is so ordered.
Cite as: 603 U. S. ____ (2024) 1
No. 23–175
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No. 23–175
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A
Over 600,000 people experience homelessness in America
on any given night, meaning that they lack “a fixed, regu-
lar, and adequate nighttime residence.” Dept. of Housing
and Urban Development, T. de Sousa et al., The 2023 An-
nual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress 4 (2023
AHAR). These people experience homelessness in different
ways. Although 6 in 10 are able to secure shelter beds, the
remaining 4 in 10 are unsheltered, sleeping “in places not
meant for human habitation,” such as sidewalks, aban-
doned buildings, bus or train stations, camping grounds,
and parked vehicles. See id., at 2. “Some sleep alone in
public places, without any physical structures (like tents or
shacks) or connection to services. Others stay in encamp-
ments, which generally refer to groups of people living sem-
ipermanently in tents or other temporary structures in a
public space.” Brief for California as Amicus Curiae 6 (Cal-
ifornia Brief ) (citation omitted). This is in part because
there has been a national “shortage of 188,000 shelter beds
for individual adults.” Brief for Service Providers as Amici
Curiae 8 (Service Providers Brief ).
People become homeless for many reasons, including
some beyond their control. “[S]tagnant wages and the lack
of affordable housing” can mean some people are one unex-
pected medical bill away from being unable to pay rent.
Brief for Public Health Professionals and Organizations as
Amici Curiae 3. Every “$100 increase in median rental
price” is “associated with about a 9 percent increase in the
estimated homelessness rate.” GAO, A. Cackley, Homeless-
ness: Better HUD Oversight of Data Collection Could Im-
prove Estimates of Homeless Populations 30 (GAO–20–433,
2020). Individuals with disabilities, immigrants, and vet-
erans face policies that increase housing instability. See
California Brief 7. Natural disasters also play a role, in-
cluding in Oregon, where increasing numbers of people
4 CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON
belongings to keep warm and dry and when they must have
their belonging[s] packed up.” Id., at 199a. The City could
also “ban the use of tents in public parks,” as long as it did
not “ban people from using any bedding type materials to
keep warm and dry while they sleep.” Id., at 199a–200a.
Further, Grants Pass could continue to “enforce laws that
actually further public health and safety, such as laws re-
stricting littering, public urination or defecation, obstruc-
tion of roadways, possession or distribution of illicit sub-
stances, harassment, or violence.” Id., at 200a.
The Ninth Circuit largely agreed that the Ordinances vi-
olated the Eighth Amendment because they punished peo-
ple who lacked “some place, such as [a] shelter, they can
lawfully sleep.” 72 F. 4th 868, 894 (2023). It further nar-
rowed the District Court’s already-limited injunction. The
Ninth Circuit noted that, beyond prohibiting bedding, “the
ordinances also prohibit the use of stoves or fires, as well as
the erection of any structures.” Id., at 895. Because the
record did not “establis[h that] the fire, stove, and structure
prohibitions deprive homeless persons of sleep or ‘the most
rudimentary precautions’ against the elements,” the court
remanded for the District Court “to craft a narrower injunc-
tion recognizing Plaintiffs’ limited right to protection
against the elements, as well as limitations when a shelter
bed is available.” Ibid.
III
The Eighth Amendment prohibits the infliction of “cruel
and unusual punishments.” Amdt. 8 (Punishments
Clause). This prohibition, which is not limited to medieval
tortures, places “ ‘limitations’ on ‘the power of those en-
trusted with the criminal-law function of government.’ ”
Timbs v. Indiana, 586 U. S. 146, 151 (2019). The Punish-
ments Clause “circumscribes the criminal process in three
ways: First, it limits the kinds of punishment that can be
imposed on those convicted of crimes; second, it proscribes
Cite as: 603 U. S. ____ (2024) 11
IV
Grants Pass’s Ordinances criminalize being homeless.
The status of being homeless (lacking available shelter) is
defined by the very behavior singled out for punishment
(sleeping outside). The majority protests that the Ordi-
nances “do not criminalize mere status.” Ante, at 21. Say-
ing so does not make it so. Every shred of evidence points
the other way. The Ordinances’ purpose, text, and enforce-
ment confirm that they target status, not conduct. For
someone with no available shelter, the only way to comply
with the Ordinances is to leave Grants Pass altogether.
A
Start with their purpose. The Ordinances, as enforced,
are intended to criminalize being homeless. The Grants
Pass City Council held a public meeting in 2013 to “ ‘identify
solutions to current vagrancy problems.’ ” App. to Pet. for
Cert. 168a. The council discussed the City’s previous efforts
to banish homeless people by “buying the person a bus
ticket to a specific destination,” or transporting them to a
different jurisdiction and “leaving them there.” App. 113–
114. That was unsuccessful, so the council discussed other
ideas, including a “ ‘do not serve’ ” list or “a ‘most unwanted
list’ made by taking pictures of the offenders . . . and then
disseminating it to all the service agencies.” Id., at 121.
The council even contemplated denying basic services such
as “food, clothing, bedding, hygiene, and those types of
things.” Ibid.
The idea was deterrence, not altruism. “[U]ntil the pain
of staying the same outweighs the pain of changing, people
will not change; and some people need an external source
to motivate that needed change.” Id., at 119. One coun-
cilmember opined that “[m]aybe they aren’t hungry enough
or cold enough . . . to make a change in their behavior.” Id.,
at 122. The council president summed up the goal suc-
cinctly: “ ‘[T]he point is to make it uncomfortable enough for
14 CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON
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3 The majority does not contest that the Ordinances, as enforced, are
is “hard to square” with the Eighth Amendment’s “text and this Court’s
other precedents.” Ante, at 32. That is wrong. See supra, at 12 (recog-
nizing Robinson’s well-established rule). The majority also claims that
this dissent “ignores Robinson’s own insistence that a different result
would have obtained in that case if the law there had proscribed an act
rather than status alone.” Ante, at 32. That too is wrong. See supra, at
11–12 (discussing Robinson’s distinction between status and conduct).
24 CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON
night”).
Even the Federal Government, which restricts some
sleeping activities on park lands, see ante, at 7, has for
nearly three decades “taken the position that laws prohib-
iting sleeping in public at all times and in all places violate
the Robinson principle as applied to individuals who have
no access to shelter.” Brief for United States as Amicus Cu-
riae 14. The same is true of States across the Nation. See
Brief for Maryland et al. as Amici Curiae 3–4 (“Taking
these policies [criminalizing homelessness] off the table
does not interfere with our ability to address homelessness
(including the effects of homelessness on surrounding com-
munities) using other policy tools, nor does it amount to an
undue intrusion on state sovereignty”).
Nothing in today’s decision prevents these States, cities,
and counties from declining to criminalize people for sleep-
ing in public when they have no available shelter. Indeed,
although the majority describes Martin as adopting an un-
workable rule, the elected representatives in Oregon codi-
fied that very rule. See infra, at 26. The majority does
these localities a disservice by ascribing to them a demand
for unfettered freedom to punish that many do not seek.
VI
The Court wrongly concludes that the Eighth Amend-
ment permits Ordinances that effectively criminalize being
homeless. Grants Pass’s Ordinances may still raise a host
of other legal issues. Perhaps recognizing the untenable
position it adopts, the majority stresses that “many sub-
stantive legal protections and provisions of the Constitution
may have important roles to play when States and cities
seek to enforce their laws against the homeless.” Ante, at
31. That is true. Although I do not prejudge the merits of
these other issues, I detail some here so that people experi-
encing homelessness and their advocates do not take the
26 CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON
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6 The majority does not address whether the Eighth Amendment re-